LargeUp Interview: Cocoa Tea on ‘In A Di Red,’ Payola + Being a ‘Slow Leak’ Artist

Words by Sherman Escoffery, Photos by Niketa Thomas—

Calvin Scott, known simply as Cocoa Tea, is a humble singer who once worked as a fisherman. In order to understand his latest album, In A Di Red (out in November), you have to understand where he has come from on his musical journey to date. A low-key individual and artist, Cocoa Tea has been trodding his musical path for nearly 40 years. With memorable hits such as “I’ve Lost My Sonia,” “Rocking Dolly,” and “Rikers Island” to his credit, he is a dancehall veteran who has stood the test of time. As he puts it,  he didn’t really buss—his career is better described as a steady, slow leak.

LargeUp recently spoke with the singer about his humble beginnings, his time with producers Henry “Junjo” Lawes, Bobby Digital, Gussie Clarke, Mikie Bennett, and the new album. He also speaks out on some of the ills currently plaguing the Jamaican recording industry, namely payola, sharing some truths that, just as Cocoa’s granny says, are sure to float to the surface, like oil in water.

Large Up: What is the essence of Cocoa Tea?

Cocoa Tea: Well, you know cocoa tea is really hot chocolate. One night my mother never really wanted to cook, so I just asked for some hot cocoa tea and bread. The name just stuck to I & I from that; but it is also the fact that cocoa tea burns many people, because it is something that always looks cool even when it is hot. So I am an artist that is always hot, even under my cool exterior; but I am sweet like cocoa tea.

LU: You have never really been on top but you have always been around from the mid 80’s, always relevant, always putting out good music. Some artists became bigger than you but their career never lasted, to what do you attribute your longevity?

CT: A friend of mine, the late Nicodemus, once said that a lot of other artist buss but him never buss, him just slow leak. So I never really buss, I just slow leaked, because things that buss eventually get thrown away, and like a bicycle tire with a slow leak, you just put a little cornmeal in there, and a grain will seal the leak and you can just keep on riding to your destination. So I am a slow leak artist.

LU: How did you end up recording your first song?

CT: At the age of 14 in 1974, this artist called Willie Francis, who had a song called “Oh What A Mini” What A Short Short Dress,” came to my district in Rocky Point, Clarendon, to record a group called the Rockydonians; now one of the guys in the group was my brother-in-law. I was hanging out with the Rockydonians and Willie heard me singing, so [he] took me along with the Rockydonians to Kingston, but he ended up only recording me; a song called “Searching In The Hills.” The song ended up getting a lot of radio play, but it never really put me out there.

At that time, I wasn’t fully equipped to be a star, because I couldn’t even write a song for myself, it was one of the guys from the Rockydonians who wrote that song for me. It took me another 10 years to really master my craft. In that time, I started to sing on all the sound systems that came to my district, practicing and getting better, learning how to write my own songs; anything that involved singing in my district, I was there, because I was a star in my little district of Rocky Point.

In December of 1983, producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes had a sound system call Volcano High Power, that came to play in my district. Burro Banton was there but never really wanted to give me the mic because I was basically in rags, and he and the other DJs were well dressed celebrity. When I touch the mic, they could not get it back from me because I had the whole place going crazy. Burro Banton told me he had to take me to town to meet “Junjo.” I went to Kingston in February of 1984 to link up with “Junjo” on Myrie Lane off Spanish Town Road, when I get there, a lot of people were hanging out on the corner including Yellow Man, Billy Boyo, Little John, Toyan, Louie Lepke, The Colonel Josey Wales, and Lee Van Cleef. After I sang the first song right there on the lane, The Colonel look at me and said ‘Likkle yute, nuh bother sing nuh more, cause any man who mek me dance without riddim must get big in a the world.” That is where it all began.

LU: Your first song as Cocoa Tea for “Junjo” Lawes was “Rocking Dolly” and it sounded very much like a love song but it was really a song about a dancing style?  

CT: Back then, Rano Dread and Toyan were two of the great bike riders, so when they dolly [sway] on they their bikes while riding, it was smooth like a dance and all the other guys try to ride like him. Toyan would do it on the white line that divided the road, so people just started dancing like they were riding like Rano Dread or Toyan, so I just wrote a song to celebrate their riding style. The dancehall already had dance moves like Shoulder Move, Butterfly and Horseman Scaddy.

LU: What was the experience like working with “Junjo” Lawes?”

CT: Well yes, I started with the late “Junjo” Lawes—Jah bless his soul—but I really remember some of the things he taught me. He said, as an artist, I should not go to Europe until I have a decent catalog of hit songs to headline a show—it doesn’t make sense to have one song and nothing else to give the people because they are coming with high expectation, and first impressions last. Some of my biggest fans to this day are the people who saw my first appearance in England. He also told me to stick with one producer at a time, so I can focus on the business, and I won’t have songs killing songs; so that is why you saw a bunch of songs on Volcano, then Jammys, then Gussie Clarke; but you never saw songs coming out on several different labels at the same time, they were all from time different periods.

Photo Courtesy: Beth Lesser

LU: There is this picture that was taken by Beth Lesser, of you and Robert “Bobby Digital” Dixon at King Jammys Studios in the mid 80’s. That picture tells a whole story, of the love of music, the energy in the studio but also the youthful exuberance at the time. Talk a little about you and Bobby Digital…

CT: To this day, Bobby and I are like brothers. I get along with everyone in the music business because I mind my own business. When I go to [Kingston] all I focus on is singing music, I don’t get involved in anything, and everybody likes me because I am easy and laid back, no mix up or ‘carry news’ or bad vibes.

The first time I went to King Jammys to sing, Bobby was the engineer and I was singing, we just clicked, and now Bobby and I have our own studios. When I record with Bobby, I listen to everything he says, and I do it exactly as he says—I am the artist and he is the producer. I just take telling and it works because I trust anything he tells me to do with music. I just simply play my role and let him play his. Is not like now in the days of Pro Fools.(Tools) When I work with Bobby, if it takes thirty times to get a line right, there is no hard feelings or frustration; with Pro Fools, you just do it one time and fly it over and over again. The producers that I trust, I just listen to them and let them guide me. Any project Mikie Bennett is working on, I am one of the first persons he calls, because I am very easy to work with.

LU: Another one of your big songs from the 80’s was “Come Again” on the Cats Paw rhythm, which was a song in praise of the dancehall; so you were doing all these sweet songs that sounded like love songs but you were a Rasta that was actually celebrating the dancehall, the sound, the energy.

CT: Well, the sound system was really at part of I&I, because if I couldn’t go in the dance and rock the crowd or relate to them, I wouldn’t be requested in the dancehall.

When I was at Jammys, I mostly worked with Bobby Digital, we even did a song together “Come Home.” Jammys saw the chemistry between us so he just left us to work together. “Tune In” I wrote as a special for a sound from Canada called Upsetters. When Jammys heard it, he said we had to do that as a record, and it became a dancehall anthem; that was when I knew the dancehall is a powerful place. The vibes at King Jammys was all about the dancehall, we sat everyday and came up with songs, especially to do dubplates, but also preparing for performance on the sound; we go to the little shop across the road to buy food from a guy name Legs, and then write and record songs and dubplates all day.

LU: Whom were you hanging out with at that time?

CT: At that time around by King Jammys, it was Sugar Minott, Junior Reid, Little John, Michael “Lickshot” Palmer, Half Pint, King Everald; [laments] nuff people don’t even remember King Everald.

LU: There was that line in “Come Again”: “Mix me Digital [Bobby] mix me wisely mix me Digital mi seh settle steady…”

CT: Well you have been to the dancehall, so you know the mix is a very important thing, the engineer is an important person— even on a stage show when Capleton says “Mix!” If he gets the wrong mix, it can mess up his performance; so the mix is a very important part of getting the people in the dancehall revved up, dancing, excited.

[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/04-Come-Again1.mp3|titles=Cocoa Tea—Come Again]
Cocoa Tea—”Come Again”

LU: Who would you say has been your mentor or biggest influence?

CT: Dennis Brown. I would say I want to be like him because he would come on stage at 7 o’clock in the morning and sing “Here I Come,” and the whole place would wake up and just erupt. I have never seen another performer like him, nobody else in Jamaica like that to me, and I have worked with the best of them. I have seen people waiting until 7, 8, 9 in the morning for Dennis Brown to come on stage, and it was always magical. I would love to have people standing up till then for me, but stage shows doesn’t go that late anymore. No one has top Bob Marley to date, but Dennis Brown was really my biggest influence.

LU: You did a lot of work with Gussie Clarke and Mikie Bennett in the late 80’s early 90’s; and together you guys made a lot of songs that became international hits, talk about that period in time.

CT: Gussie Clarke is one of the pioneers when it comes to Lover’s Rock music. Gussie is a perfectionist and, if it isn’t the ultimate song, he won’t touch it. He utilizes the best personnel; first him draw for an engineer call Steven Stanley, who is the best engineer in Jamaica—in my opinion. Steven Stanley will take three days to mix one song to get it perfect, when Steven is finished with a song, every instrument in the song talks to you but they all work in harmony. Me, Shabba Ranks and Mikie Bennett started working together from around by King Jammys, from the song  “Who She Love.” Gussie loved the songs, and he wanted to work with us. Now a lot of people would not think that Gussie would want to work with DJ like Shabba Ranks, but Gussie can identify talent and he is a conceptualist. At the time in England, the [Department of Trade and Industry] was shutting down all the pirate radio stations across the country, so Gussie said we had to do a song about this because it will be an immediate hit. Shabba, Mikie Bennett and myself wrote the lyrics but Mikie was the one that was really the architect after Gussie provide the idea and all the resources. After “Pirates Anthem” was completed, Gussie said this is going to mash up the whole a England, and it did.

LU: What was the difference between Mikie Bennett and Gussie Clarke?

CT: Well I think a lot of the things that Mikie Bennett has done, he learned from Gussie Clarke but Mikie is a really great songwriter and a musician, which Gussie Clarke isn’t; but the approach, the ability to come with a winning concept and put together the perfect team of the best people, that is who Gussie Clarke is. There was this guy called McKenzie that use to park cars at the US Embassy, he came up to Gussie’s car window with some lyrics on a piece of paper, Gussie brought it to us and said he liked the lyrics, but it had no melody or structure, but we worked it out and, it became the song “One Away Woman.”

If you have an idea and tell it to Gussie, he will find the perfect person for you to work it out with, it sounds simple but it isn’t. Gussie also had people such as Hopeton Lindo, Dean Fraser, Mikey Irish and a bunch of other people, and we just work on many songs as a team of writers, singers, musicians, melody makers, and we only made hit songs at Gussie’s Studio everyday. It was a higher level of professionalism and it also felt like a family affair.

LU: Looking back at your career, tell me what are some of your most important achievements?

CT: The wealth of knowledge I have acquired—meaning my ability to correct myself when singing, knowing when I am on or off key, timing, the ability to deal with people in this business without any problems and staying out of controversy, while still relating to my fans and audience to keep them entertained and keep myself relevant to them. That is what is even allowing me to talk to you right now as an artist who came from the country, went to town, made it, and still here 28 years later.

When I started, I just loved music and anywhere it play, I just wanted to go there. I never imagine music buying me a house or car or making me travel, I just wanted to sing, entertain the crowd, and hear my own voice. After recording my first song and a career never happened, I went to Caymanas Park to train as a jockey. I was singing as I trained and people told me to leave the racetrack and go sing. Everything I tried, construction, fishing, I was singing and people always told me I was in the wrong places, I should go to studio and sing. It was 10 years between my first and second song, but singing was my calling.

LU: So how has all that history culminated on this new album In A Di Red?

CT: This album is just to show the versatility of reggae. But you have to understand my journey; after my first song came out, there was a man called Massgan, that use to come pick me up every Thursday to perform. He always told me not to watch the people whose success came very fast, because they usually lose it with the same speed. I always remember his words to this day, even as a grown man and a veteran in this business. Gas balloons buss and done but I have been slow leaking from 1984 till now, and still doing my thing. I also did a LP for Motown Records, but the direction they wanted me to go, it couldn’t work out, because I was delivering to what my fans wanted but they needed a quick return on their money. Few of the hip-hop artist have a long career, because they sacrifice it to make quick money for the record company, and that is how I see some of the dancehall now. Similar to fast food music with fast food artist. It’s not like the original music that was like yam, banana, some cornmeal dumplings with salt fish, and ackee, that could sustain you for a day— it is now like a hamburger, where you are hungry again an hour.

I have seen a lot of artist come and go, some came powerful and terrible, and they mash up the place like an earthquake, make you have to take a deep breath and think about your career. I remember when artists like Pinchers and Sanchez were dominating the place, so that’s why I just gwan slow leak. The purpose of this album is to bring forth the essence of what reggae is, good reggae music, I talk about topics that are close to the fans, things that happen in life.

“Beat the Drum” is asking African people where is your culture? Don’t tell me you have lost your identity—Reggae used to be a part of our identity; what is our identity now? Even the Rastas them look like them stop beat their drums, cause it is like we sell out for vanity. This album is also opening conversations about certain topics, using live instruments and making the songs with feeling. I don’t want people to just listen to the beat but also listen to the lyrics.

LU: Why the title In A Di Red?

CT: Well initially I wanted to call this album “Weh The Reggae Deh” because I go all over the world, and everyone asking me “Weh The Reggae Deh?”  I had to do a song about that question, because I alone can’t answer it. No more Nyabinghi, no roots, all we hear is twingy twingy [A cheap artificial sound]. The thing is out of balance bad, but I never wanted to start off sounding like a preacher.

I had released a song called ‘Tek Weh You Gal” after this guy came down from the USA with his girl and he was just showing off. Now, I am a humble guy but his girl kept flirting with me, I never went there but it inspired me to write the song call “Tek Weh You Gal.” This guy on radio criticized that song and that just inspired me to write “In A Di Red” because I felt he was putting the title of Joe Grind on me to say any man who‘s woman cheated on them, should blame me. So that song is not a true story but just something that played out in my head, and that radio personality became the insecure husband.

[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/In-A-Di-Red.mp3|titles=In A Di Red]
Cocoa Tea—”In A Di Red”

LU: The first single “Love Is,” is a combination featuring D’Angel, She is treated as a pariah by some and viewed more as a drama queen than an artist by many—why her?

CT: D’Angel is like family to me and she came on my show, Jam Jam. I saw her talent when she mashed up the place, that’s when I decided to take her in a different direction. Most of the young ladies today, their careers get caught up in their looks and drama over their talent. When you look at good singers like Tessanne Chin and Alaine, they are good artist that are being promoted as sex symbols more than singers, I think that is what also happened with D’Angel, and we wanted to show that she is a real DJ.

LU: You seem to be opening a can of worms with the song “Press Freedom”…

CT: Well that song might not find favor with the Broadcasting Commission and certain hypocritical individuals, but my Granny always says the truth will float like oil on water. A big part of the problem is that the radio personalities are not being paid properly, hence the corruption and payola; and that needs to be addressed.

LU: So you are saying that a lot of the radio DJ’s are not being properly compensated?

CT: Of course, the people at the top are talking about payola as if they are not collecting. When Digicel sponsors an artist and pay their advertising money, their artist is getting played also, so some form of money changing hand. When a man takes out an advertisement, that money goes to the owner and the executive, how do the DJ’s benefit from that? So they turn around and want to pressure the artists. Listen, is a lot of hypocrisy going on in the business, and some of the most corrupt people are licking out on payola while taking or paying it.

LU: Do you pay to have your music played? 

CT: I pay the musicians, I pay the engineer, I pay for mastering, stampers, labels; and I pay a promoter to go promote my music. If I put out bad music and promote it, nobody will want to buy it or want to see me, but if I put out good music and promote it, a bag of people are going to buy it, or spend money to come and see me. The problem is not payola; it is the lack of balance in the media. Most stations will tell you to sponsor a program; that is legal payola. One of the solutions is to pay the DJs a living wage or share the profits with the DJs. I even heard a rumor that a Jamaican radio station owner told the DJ’s to take money from the artists, because he can’t pay them any money.

A couple years ago, I said to some of my peers that were making big money, let us pool our money and buy our own radio station. They said no, they didn’t have it; but they were spending on Range Rovers, and Hennessy, champagne, and a lot of women. When their careers pop down, they are squeezing out that payola money under the quiet, but bawling out loud about corruption. Is not payola mash their career, it is the refusal to invest in themselves; but they can afford to pay for a whole gang of men to hang out with them instead of putting that gang a man to work to support themselves, so they can probably come back to help them in the future. They want to do music videos out of vanity but they refuse to pay a promoter to push their songs and videos.

A lot of people might be shocked by what I am saying, but I am a truths and rights person. Artist have to start investing in their own careers when they have it, and stop depending on other people. When I spend on my career; who is benefiting going from it? Me! You spend money to make money, and until these artists wake up and start treating their career like a business and stop hustling it, they will suffer.